Dr Rebecca Williams
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volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams
@volcanologist.bsky.social
Reader in Volcanology in Geology @Hull. Waffle about volcanoes, HigherEd, tea and occasional running. SFHEA & STEM ambassador. She/her.
Pinned
It's about time I announced a project that I've been working on in the last year... I wrote a book!

'Volcanoes: 10 things you should know' published by @orionbooks.bsky.social Seven Dials will be out in September. It's available to pre-order now. Links: linktr.ee/volcanologist
Yes, makes me want to go big with my own at home 😁
January 24, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Had a lovely day in York tracing footsteps of Tempest Anderson, ophthalmic surgeon and adventuring volcanologist. Hunting for volcanic rocks in the city with @fossiliam.bsky.social
January 24, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Calling all UK archaeologists! I am conducting some reasearch on Stratigraphic literacy in the industry. If you work/have worked in archaeology in the UK I would really apprechiate if would fill in this survey!

forms.gle/5jZKpcf78gZt...
Stratigraphic Literacy in UK Archaeology -
This survey, along with a previous one circulated in September 2025 will form the basis for a study of stratigraphic literacy in UK Archaeology, to hopefully be published in an academic journal such a...
forms.gle
January 24, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Awesome! Look forward to the thread
January 24, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Good. Keep resisting.
January 20, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
20 January 1814: newspapers report that entrepreneur William Bullock was sending a natural history exhibition to Edinburgh. Amongst the specimens is 'the fossil head of a crocodile, lately found in Dorsetshire', the ichthyosaur found by #MaryAnning & her brother, on perhaps its first public display.
January 20, 2026 at 6:52 AM
I'd be absolutely stoked to find out that a library was stocking my book. And that people were actually checking it out. 📖🤓
Someone said to me, "I'm sorry but I got your book from a library." Nobody should ever apologise for that. You read my book! That's brilliant! I grew up hanging out in libraries and the idea of a world without them fills me with dread. Without libraries, authors, like readers, will only suffer.
January 20, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Job alert! We're recruiting for a #lecturer in marine conservation to direct our new #Marine #Conservation MSc and have the ?pleasure of working with me 'cos I run the Wildlife Conservation MSc. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQF022/l... 🧪 We're friendly and you can still buy a house on an academic salary here!
www.jobs.ac.uk
January 20, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Did anyone see the Northern Lights last night?

These incredible shots were taken at Dudmaston ✨
January 20, 2026 at 11:05 AM
It's teaching students to outsource thinking. Thinking is what we're supposed to teach them how to do. So if we no longer do that, what's the point? Expertise in a subject is developed through thought - why go to university if you don't want to think? It's the death of expertise.
January 19, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Yes, in many ways Teide is but a small pimple at the top of a huge volcanic system. The eruptions that formed the caldera are far larger than the eruptions that formed Teide.
January 16, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Oh the pumice plains! That is a deposit of pumice from an eruption where a cloud spread out and rained pumice down on the nearby areas. I think this particular place is related to the Montana Blanca eruption.
January 14, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Many fellows of the @royalsociety.org (FRS) are incredibly good scientists with a wide reach.

Yet, as the society, & the president of the society, react and engage in public discussions of at least one fellow and their conduct, the "brand" and relevance of the society continues to be at risk.

1/
January 12, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
But there's more

As I wrote at the time, NESO said net-zero "Holistic Transition" was the "cheapest option", once you take account of the economic damages from CO2 adding to climate change

It said a fossil energy system is only “cheaper” if we “ignore” carbon costs

www.carbonbrief.org/...
9/10
January 12, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
The utterly shameless & widely covered "report" out today, claiming net zero will "cost" £9tn is based on:

* Assuming free fossil-fuel energy, free petrol cars, free gas boilers, free gas power plants etc

AND

* Including climate damages in the "cost" of net zero

I kid you not, it is that stupid
🧵A political/media guide to the "truth" about net-zero

1) Add up costs to install & run a net-zero energy system
2) Pretend fossil-fuelled alternatives wld be free
3) Do say "eco zealots are bankrupting us"
4) Don't say "free cars if we scrap net-zero" cos it sounds ridiculous
5) That's it!

1/10
January 13, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.
January 12, 2026 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
If you are interested in electron microscopy, registration is still open for the

"Electron Microscopy Hands-On Course: sample preparation and imaging of marine environmental samples"

at Stazione Zoologica in Naples.

WIth great teachers from Naples […]

[Original post on biologists.social]
January 13, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Good luck! Have an amazing time!
January 10, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Nice bubbling over at Kīlauea right now. Bigger stuff may follow: www.youtube.com/live/gXKuUyK...
[V3cam] Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii (south Halemaʻumaʻu crater)
YouTube video by USGS
www.youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
PSA: twitter, X, is doing new terms of service that basically make it so that any comtent you share on there including DMs and photos is theirs and they can use it for "any purpose" including commercial use.

So, if you have a page you’ve left up and don’t want them there’s time to act 1/
January 7, 2026 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
Did you know most of the volcanic activity on Earth takes place under the waves? 🌋

Submarine volcanoes act as pressure valves for the planet by periodically releasing heat and molten rock from beneath the surface.

📲 Learn more from our Ocean Learning Hub: go.whoi.edu/Uw_Volcano
January 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
very disappointing.

There is a code of conduct for Royal Society fellows - it's not a value judgement to say that Musk has contravened it!

see relevant bits of code and the Royal Society stated values below.
January 9, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
What would a fellow have to do, to be in contravention of the @royalsociety.org Code of Conduct if Musk's behaviour *doesn't* constitute "acting in a personal or professional capacity in such a manner as is likely to bring the
Society into disrepute"?
royalsociety.org/-/media/abou...
January 9, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
An excellent final @vmsg.bsky.social Annual Meeting Workshop today led by @volcanologist.bsky.social @pyroclasticpete.bsky.social @drnatashadowey.bsky.social on pyroclastic stratigraphies. I learned a lot and there were some great conversations. Thanks to all involved!
January 8, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
The one and only meme I've ever created. Also my most successful research output ever 🤣
November 4, 2024 at 12:36 PM